CHAP. VI. 1811. would make his appearance from Andalusia with a force sufficient to raise the siege. Thus sixteen days of open trenches, and for making the whole preparations for the assault, was all that could be allowed. Wellington, however, did not despair of carrying the place in that short time, and with the limited means at his disposal. He gave orders, accordingly, for the immediate commencement of the siege, and ground was broken before the castle, and the outworks of the Pardaleras and Fort Christoval, on the 22d April. In conjunction with Sir Charles April 22. Stewart and all his staff, the Commander-in-Chief was busily engaged in the arrangements for the siege, when advices reached him from Sir Brent Spencer of such a formidable concentration of troops in the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo, as indicated a determination on the part of Massena, not only to raise the blockade of, and revictual, Almeida, but to relieve Badajos by a serious irruption into the northern provinces of Portugal. Sensible of the danger, Wellington hastened from the banks of the Guadiana to those of the Agueda, and arrived just 1 Lond. ii. in time to meet the danger with which his troops were 89, 90. there threatened.1 the troops covering the blockade of Wellington, on arriving there, found the troops in the 4. positions which he had assigned to them, which are thus Position of distinctly explained by Sir Charles Stewart: "Between the Dos Casas and the Turones rivers there extends Almeida. range of heights, which formed on the present occasion the main feature in our position. Our right, though placed directly upon Nava d'Aver, might be said in strictness to rest upon the Coa; for the country between the Coa and the village being extremely impracticable, little danger was to be apprehended from any attempt made in that quarter. Our centre extended along the heights just alluded to, between the villages of FUENTES D'ONORE and Villa Formosa; while our left, which embraced Fort Conception and Valdelamula, circled round by Almeida, so as to complete the blockade of that important place, at CHAP. VL 1811. 1 Lond. ii. 90, 91. 5. d'Onore. the same time that it appryed upon ground extremely favourable With respect to the arrangement of the troops a few words will suffice. On the extreme right of the line General Houston, with the 7th division, took post, the cavalry being formed next to him, though somewhat in advance. After the 7th came the 1st division, thrown considerably forward, and upon very advantageous ground, and communicating on its left with the 3d, which again held connection with the light, as it did with the 6th and 5th. The 5th division, under Sir William Erskine, formed the extreme left of the line; whilst the blockade of Almeida was, in an especial manner, committed to the 6th division, under General Campbell. Every division and brigade was, however, in a situation to move at a moment's warning, and by short and direct paths, to any part in the entire line which might be threatened; and hence, though to external appearance our flanks were far removed from one another, the space of three hours would have brought the most distant battalions in position to the same ground at any given point.”1 ... "Fuentes d'Onore," which gave its name to the sanDescription guinary battle which ensued, “was not, strictly speaking, of Fuentes embraced in our position; and though occupied by the light troops of the 1st and 3d divisions, supported by the 7th Regiment, it was held merely as an advanced post. . It stands at the bottom of a valley, and on the bank of a small rivulet or brook. On either side are rising grounds, and through it passes the main road to Caseja, Gallegos, and thence to Ciudad Rodrigo. On the Ciudad Rodrigo side an extensive morass is bounded, at some distance, by a thick wood; and though the ground certainly rises there, as it does in rear of the village, still the troops which advance in a hostile attitude from that quarter must pass over a considerable tract where they will be exposed to a heavy and destructive fire from almost every point. The village itself is crossed in various directions by walls, which afforded excellent cover for infantry, and were not this, and deeming it necessary to move in order to cover the retreat of the foot-soldiers, as well as to hinder themselves being outflanked, the cavalry descended from a commanding position, in which they had been drawn up, into the plain. They were immediately charged in the low ground by the enemy's horse; but the assailants were driven back by the leading squadron of the British horse under Sir Charles Stewart, who made Colonel La Motte, of the 13th Chasseurs, prisoner in single combat. The enemy, however, succeeded in establishing themselves on the heights which had been abandoned, and from them opened so heavy a fire from some pieces of horse-artillery which they brought up, that the position of the troops on that part of the line was no longer tenable, and a retrograde movement to draw the foot-soldiers out of the range became indispensable. A retreat, accordingly, was commenced, but how to effect it on level ground, and in the face of a powerful cavalry, to which the Allies had nothing of equal strength to oppose, was a matter of no small difficulty. The light division, which had advanced to support the cavalry, now hard pressed, finding the post already evacuated, wheeled to the right, and moved towards Houston's division, which was slowly retiring, firing all the way. During this movement, however, they were repeatedly and fiercely charged by Montbrun's dragoons, and one small body formed by the rallying of the skirmishers in front, who had not time to get into the regimental square, was broken, thirty men cut down, and several prisoners taken, among whom was Colonel Hill of the 3d Guards. The main body, however, retreated in squares in the finest order, alternately halting and firing ; and the Chasseurs Britanniques exhibited a rare example of discipline and valour by taking post behind a long ruined wall, where they received a charge of cavalry in line, which they repulsed by a steady and well-directed fire, which secured the retreat of the division, which before that had been endangered. The horse-artillery guns CHAP. VI. 1811. CHAP. VI. 1811. 7. been such a source of vexation in the preceding campaign, after being superseded by Massena, had been recalled to France by the Emperor, and replaced by Marshal Marmont, an officer of superior abilities, and of a much more tractable disposition. Add to this that Napoleon had, soon after the former orders, sent a despatch which, in truth, left him no alternative but immediately to resume hostilities. Everything, therefore, urged the French marshal to make Necessity of another effort to restore affairs in the Peninsula; and relieving Almeida in addition to it, affairs on the frontier had become so and Badajos. pressing as not to admit of an instant's delay. Wellington 1 Koch, vii. 474-481. 8. Forces on both sides. had just gone to take the command of three divisions to the south of the Tagus, with which he had undertaken the siege of Badajos. Almeida, closely blockaded, was already in great want of provisions, and must ere long capitulate if not relieved and revictualled. On the other hand, a successful irruption into Portugal, now that the Commander-in-Chief and part of the army were absent, would, in the first instance, relieve Almeida, and, in its ultimate results, in all probability render unavoidable the withdrawing of the troops from the banks of the Guadiana, the raising of the siege of Badajos, and the restoration, by a last success, of the lustre of the Imperial arms over all Europe. Impressed with these ideas, and in truth having no longer a choice on the subject, Massena concentrated his army, and having with infinite difficulty collected a convoy of provisions to revictual Almeida, he recrossed the Agueda, and on the 1st May advanced towards Almeida.1 The forces with which the opposite generals had to contend, when the campaign was renewed at this time, were as follows: Massena had 42,123 men and 8476 horses, of which 39,479 were present with the eagles, with 42 guns. In addition to this, he might reckon on the cooperation of Marshal Bessières, who, with his part of the Imperial Guard, 15,000 strong, was at no great distance CHAP. 103. VI. 1811. in the rear, and in point of fact took no inconsiderable part in the campaign which followed. Wellington's force, after the large deductions made to the south with Beresford, was only 29,000 of all arms, including Portuguese, of whom not more than 1600 were cavalry1-a vast dis-1 Lond. ii. proportion, considering the homogeneous nature of the French army, contrasted with the varied character of the Allied; that a considerable part of the enemy's cavalry consisted of the horsemen of the Imperial Guard, the very best troops in their whole army; and that the Allies required to make a deduction of at least 3000 men to maintain the blockade of Almeida, the relief of which was the 2 Ibid. first object of the invasion.2 9. Massena on d'Onore. Towards the evening of the 3d, the 6th French corps, now under the command of Loison, made its appearance Attack of in three lines on the heights, which on the east overhang Fuentes Fuentes d'Onore. They immediately opened a heavy May 3. fire upon the village from the heights above, and soon after made a determined attack with a strong column of infantry upon it. The assault was met in the most gallant manner by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams, at the head of a battalion of light companies. The French, under General Ferrey, however, were formed in three columns of attack, and they pressed on with such vigour and superior numbers that that gallant battalion was obliged to give ground. Williams was wounded, and a few men made prisoners. The light infantry battalion of Nightingale's brigade, commanded by Major Dick of the 42d; the light infantry battalion of Howard's brigade, commanded by Major M'Donnel of the 92d; and the light infantry battalions of the King's German Legion, commanded by Major Aly of the 5th; and the second battalion of the 83d, under Major Carr, were upon this brought up, and maintained a desperate fight with the assailants, skilfully availing themselves of every cover which the cross-walls and buildings afforded. The French, however, gradually gained ground, and Ferrey had reached the centre of the |